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Don't Silence Another 60
http://www.armenianweekly.com/2012/10/13/dont-silence-another-60/
October 13, 2012
My next trip to Armenia is in December, but if it were tomorrow, I
wouldn't be very excited to get on the plane. In fact, right now I
want to be as far away from Armenia as possible. And in this moment, I
understand why hundreds of thousands of people have left during the
last 20 years.
Currently, Vartan Oskanian, Armenia's former minister of foreign
affairs, faces charges of money laundering, embezzlement, and who
knows what else. Many people thought Oskanian a likely challenger to
Republican incumbent President Serge Sarkisian in February's
presidential election, unless, of course, Oskanian is tied up in
court, or worse. Seemingly to correctly prove the hypothesis that the
charges are politically driven, the ruling Republicans and their de
facto proxy party voted 64-6 to remove Oskanian's immunity and leave
him open to charges, which followed a week later. Every political
party boycotted the vote except, you guessed it, the ruling majority
and its friends. Interestingly, a party historically loaded with
parliamentarians sporting shoddy attendance records somehow managed to
convince 96 percent of its membership to show up and remove Oskanian's
immunity. Meanwhile, Georgia just completed a legitimate election and
power transfer, further widening the democratic gap between the two
neighboring former Soviet states. And yet, this isn't even the
beginning of my frustration...
Oskanian is also the founder of the Civilitas Foundation, a think tank
promoting an active civil society. The money laundering charge stems
from a charitable donation made to the foundation by U.S. businessman
Jon Huntsman, Sr. The foundation's roughly 60 employees are
predominantly young, multilingual Armenians working to improve their
country by focusing on issues such as women's rights, the rule of law,
and the environment. Their main vehicle is the news and public affairs
website, civilnet.am, which started from scratch with a team of
inexperienced future journalists, and has since developed into a real
source for independent, analytical news and dialogue. Unfortunately,
that mission sometimes interferes with the establishment's suppressive
interests. During my 14 months producing for Civilnet, I learned twice
as much as I taught about advocacy journalism and became exceedingly
optimistic about Armenia's future. Civilitas is an oasis for
free-thinking creativity, safe from the desert of anti-progressive
thought that sometimes pollutes Yerevan.
`Civilitas is an oasis for free-thinking creativity, safe from the
desert of anti-progressive thought that sometimes pollutes Yerevan.'
This all matters because the Armenians with whom I worked at Civilitas
are extremely talented and mobile. They've turned down
full-scholarship opportunities in the U.S. and the U.K., believing
they could improve their home country if they only stayed in Armenia.
Even those who have left Civilitas and Armenia, including U.S.
citizens such as this article's author, have pledged to return and
make Armenia their long-term home. But now, Civilitas is under fire,
facing potential interference from the government, which claims it
wants to `protect' Civilitas. Nobody knows what that means and nobody
is optimistic about it either. While everyone is still fighting for
Civilitas' survival, some of my former co-workers and friends are
second-guessing their desire to remain in Armenia.
At September's Armenians and Progressive Politics (APP) Conference in
New York, one attendee astutely described Armenia as an unstable
balloon that inflates with each repressive event, such as the one
happening now with Civilitas. But as the balloon expands and seems
ready to explode, people simply move out of the country, thus
diffusing the pressure. We've seen it after elections and other events
that sully the public. It's why today Armenia's population is
definitively less than 3 million people. So I suspect we'll see more
frustration and migration with this episode and the upcoming February
election. And, unfortunately, the educated and mobile will be the ones
to leave, further exacerbating the brain drain epidemic.
I will get on that plane in December, and my long-term plan to live in
Armenia has not changed. I am excited to enjoy the city I love and see
the friends I left behind a few months ago. I only hope some of them
will still be there to greet me at the airport.
Greg Bilazarian is a first year MBA student at the Yale School of
Management. He was the producer for civilnet.am in Armenia from May
2011 to July 2012. Bilazarian worked for four years as a television
news reporter in the U.S. before moving to Armenia. He grew up outside
of Philadelphia.
http://www.armenianweekly.com/2012/10/13/dont-silence-another-60/
October 13, 2012
My next trip to Armenia is in December, but if it were tomorrow, I
wouldn't be very excited to get on the plane. In fact, right now I
want to be as far away from Armenia as possible. And in this moment, I
understand why hundreds of thousands of people have left during the
last 20 years.
Currently, Vartan Oskanian, Armenia's former minister of foreign
affairs, faces charges of money laundering, embezzlement, and who
knows what else. Many people thought Oskanian a likely challenger to
Republican incumbent President Serge Sarkisian in February's
presidential election, unless, of course, Oskanian is tied up in
court, or worse. Seemingly to correctly prove the hypothesis that the
charges are politically driven, the ruling Republicans and their de
facto proxy party voted 64-6 to remove Oskanian's immunity and leave
him open to charges, which followed a week later. Every political
party boycotted the vote except, you guessed it, the ruling majority
and its friends. Interestingly, a party historically loaded with
parliamentarians sporting shoddy attendance records somehow managed to
convince 96 percent of its membership to show up and remove Oskanian's
immunity. Meanwhile, Georgia just completed a legitimate election and
power transfer, further widening the democratic gap between the two
neighboring former Soviet states. And yet, this isn't even the
beginning of my frustration...
Oskanian is also the founder of the Civilitas Foundation, a think tank
promoting an active civil society. The money laundering charge stems
from a charitable donation made to the foundation by U.S. businessman
Jon Huntsman, Sr. The foundation's roughly 60 employees are
predominantly young, multilingual Armenians working to improve their
country by focusing on issues such as women's rights, the rule of law,
and the environment. Their main vehicle is the news and public affairs
website, civilnet.am, which started from scratch with a team of
inexperienced future journalists, and has since developed into a real
source for independent, analytical news and dialogue. Unfortunately,
that mission sometimes interferes with the establishment's suppressive
interests. During my 14 months producing for Civilnet, I learned twice
as much as I taught about advocacy journalism and became exceedingly
optimistic about Armenia's future. Civilitas is an oasis for
free-thinking creativity, safe from the desert of anti-progressive
thought that sometimes pollutes Yerevan.
`Civilitas is an oasis for free-thinking creativity, safe from the
desert of anti-progressive thought that sometimes pollutes Yerevan.'
This all matters because the Armenians with whom I worked at Civilitas
are extremely talented and mobile. They've turned down
full-scholarship opportunities in the U.S. and the U.K., believing
they could improve their home country if they only stayed in Armenia.
Even those who have left Civilitas and Armenia, including U.S.
citizens such as this article's author, have pledged to return and
make Armenia their long-term home. But now, Civilitas is under fire,
facing potential interference from the government, which claims it
wants to `protect' Civilitas. Nobody knows what that means and nobody
is optimistic about it either. While everyone is still fighting for
Civilitas' survival, some of my former co-workers and friends are
second-guessing their desire to remain in Armenia.
At September's Armenians and Progressive Politics (APP) Conference in
New York, one attendee astutely described Armenia as an unstable
balloon that inflates with each repressive event, such as the one
happening now with Civilitas. But as the balloon expands and seems
ready to explode, people simply move out of the country, thus
diffusing the pressure. We've seen it after elections and other events
that sully the public. It's why today Armenia's population is
definitively less than 3 million people. So I suspect we'll see more
frustration and migration with this episode and the upcoming February
election. And, unfortunately, the educated and mobile will be the ones
to leave, further exacerbating the brain drain epidemic.
I will get on that plane in December, and my long-term plan to live in
Armenia has not changed. I am excited to enjoy the city I love and see
the friends I left behind a few months ago. I only hope some of them
will still be there to greet me at the airport.
Greg Bilazarian is a first year MBA student at the Yale School of
Management. He was the producer for civilnet.am in Armenia from May
2011 to July 2012. Bilazarian worked for four years as a television
news reporter in the U.S. before moving to Armenia. He grew up outside
of Philadelphia.